Driving mechanism for winding-up machines



22, 1959 NlELSEN 2,917,934

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR WINDING-UP MACHINES Filed May 4. 1954 United States Patent DRIVING MECHANISM FOR WINDING-UP MACHINES Hans Biirge Nielsen,; Vii-um, Denmark Application May 4, 1954, Serial'No. 427,485 Claims priority, application Sweden, May 12 1953 11 Claims. (Cl. 74-1905) The present invention relates todriving mechanisms for winding machines in which a band-shaped or threadshaped material is wound on one or more rotating rollers. Examples of such machines are plece dyeing machines known as jiggers, machines for winding .up paper web, bands and yarns and metallic thread.

It is a drawback inmachines of the said kind. that the roller on which the material is wound has to be driven at varying speeds such that the force at which the roller pulls at the material and the peed at which the material is wound either remains constant or is adapted, to the member giving oil the material. The said member may,

for example, comprise a pair of compression rollers be tweenwhich the material passes before being wound up.

In; that case the material either has to be wound at a constant speed or it has to be wound at an arbitrary speed subject to a predetermined tension. The said mem- .one of the said discs being directly or through transmission members connected with the roller or rollers on which the material is wound. In addition, a roller is provided between each pair of discs; in the said series, the axis of the said roller beinglocated in the same plane as the center lines between the, discs. The said roller is movable in the direction of its axis and is furthermore movable in a directionsubstantially-at right angles to the plane in which its axis islocated, and in this. direction it is'subjected to the action of a force that decreases when the roller is moved in the direction of said force and increases when the roller is moved in a direction PPOSiI that to which the force tends.

The said driving mechanism, in whichthe power transmission is elfected, is self-regulating as will be further described in the following, the mechanism'itselfi in reacting to the forces acting on the winding roller, regulat ing the ratio of gearing without any of the components of the mechanism being movedfrom outside. The operation of the driving mechanism, in which either one of the discs or one of the rollers may be the. driven member depending on the purpose which thedriving mechanism is to serve, will be further described in the'detailed part of this specification. Below is given but a brief mention of its principle and mode of operation; which is as follows:

I The material to be wound 'up-willact on the winding roller and, many given case, on the member feeding the material, with forces varying with the amountof material wound up at any given time. When the said force, which is at right angles to the plane in which the axis of the roller is located, is adapted to the force which the material is desired to exert on the winding roller, that is, adapted to the desired rate of winding and the stress to which the material is subjected, a variation in this rate or stress will have the eifect that the roller is withdrawn from the plane determined by the center line between the discs and the axis of the roller, either against the action. of the said force or assisted by the said force. Owing to the rotation of the roller and the discsthe roller will move in the direction of its axis until it is again brought to rest in a position producing a new ratio of gearing between the discs and in which the rate of winding and the stress of the material are again of the desired value which is determined by the amount of the force acting on the roller in a direction substantially at right angles to the plane of the center line and the roller axis.

In many winding machines, it is unessential that the material is subject to varying stresses while being wound up, provided only these stresses are within what is permissible in view of the tensile strength of the material. In such cases it is therefore for solely mechanical reasons that a driving mechanism is desired in which the speed of the winding roller is adapted to the rate at which the material is given off.

In piece dyeing machines known as jiggers it is, however, of utmost importance in view of the material that both the rate of winding and the stress to which the material; (a web of fabric) is subjected are constant since these two factors are of decisive importance to the dyeing process. The stress of the material is furthermore of importance to its subsequent treatment anduse. If,lin fact, the materiala web .of fabricis wound at varying stresses it will become of varying width which is disadvantageous as such, but the varying widthv will furthermore involve the drawback that the roll of material wound will not be plane at its ends. In reality, fabric webs handled on the known jiggers have variations in width of about 10 percent which is actually due to the lack of a driving mechanism by means of which it is possible to adapt the speeds of the take-up rollers-and the feed roller in relation to each other in suchmanner that the fabric web is wound at a constant rate and is subject to a constant stress.

The driving mechanism according to the invention is therefore of special importance to such jiggers; An essential feature of a preferred embodiment of the'driving mechanism for such jiggers is, in accordance with the invention, that it consists of two discs which are rotatable about their axes, one of the said discs being directly or through transmission members connectedwith one of the rollers of the jigger, the other disc being directly or through transmission members connected with the other roller of the jigger; in addition to which a roller driven by an engine or motor is provided between the said discs, the axis of the saidroller lying in a plane with the center line between the discs. The said roller is movable in the direction of its axis and in a direction substantially at right angles to the plane in which its axis is located, and in this direction it is acted upon by a force which decreases when the roller is moved in the direction of the force and increases when the roller is moved opposite to the force.

The said driving mechanism is especially simple because it only comprises two discs and one roller, and it aflords a speed that is sufliciently constant for practice when handling material on the jigger. Thus, it may be observed that in a jigger of average size provided with the aforesaid driving mechanism the speed variations'are of the order of 10 percent only, whereas the speed variations in jiggers with known driving mechanisms, that is,

, 3 driving mechanisms comprising a differential, are of the order of 50 percent.

An essential feature of a driving mechanism suitable for a winding-up machine of the kind fed with material from a pair of compression rollers is, in one embodiment according to the invention, that it consists of two discs rotatable about their axes, one of the said discs being directly or through transmission members connected with the winding roller, the other disc being directly or through transmission members driven by an engine or motor. In addition, a roller on a shaft is provided between the two discs, the said roller being movable in the direction of the shaft which shaft is furthermore in a plane centrally located between the discs and is arranged to swivel about a point aligned with the center of the driven disc, and in a point lying on the other side of the roller is acted upon by a force which decreases when the shaft is moved in the direction of the force and increases when the shaft is moved in a direction opposite that to which the said force tends. Thus, in this embodiment no part of the driving mechanism is connected with the compression rollers giving off the material, and the selfregulating effect is consequently solely produced as a reaction to the forces acting on the winding roller.

It should be observed that when there are more than two discs in the driving mechanism the said discs need not lie in a straight line. References to the center line between the discs should therefore be understood to be the center line between two neighbouring discs.

Where the driving mechanism is to be used for large winding-up machines it is necessary in order to transmit the desired power by friction between the discs and the rollers to press the discs against the rollers with considerable force. To prevent the rollers from making depressions in the discs it is therefore necessary that the discs and the rollers are of hard material. Accordingly, the discs and the rollers, or their surfaces only, consist according to the invention of metal, preferably hardened the invention, provided preferably by a spring, and,

thusly, the drivingmechanism may readily by adjustment of the spring tension be regulated to suit the various desired stresses in the material to be wound.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of the driving mechanism for a jigger,

Figure 2 is the same, viewed from above,

Figure 3 is an end-view of the same,

Figure 4 is the structural design of a part of a driving mechanism.

The driving mechanism shown in Figures 1-3 consists of a pair of chrome steel discs 1 and 2 which are rotatable about their respective axes. The disc 1 has a shaft 3 connected through a gearing with the one rollerof a jigger. The other disc 2 is through transmission mem bers (not shown) connected with the other roller of the jig'ger. The discs press heavily against the edges of a roller 4 which is mounted on a shaft 5 so as to be freely movable of the shaft, but partaking in the rotation of same. For details in this design reference is made to Figure 4. At the end of the shaft there is a bearing 6, and the shaft is rotated by an engine or motor (not shown). At that end of the shaft where the roller is mounted is attached a spiral spring 7 acting on the shaft in the direction indicated by an arrow 8. i

The operation of the aforesaid driving mechanism is as follows (see particularly Figures 1 and 3):

The shaft 5 is assumed to rotate in the direction of the arrow 9, which gives the discs 1 and 2 the directions of rotation indicated by the arrows 10 and 11. Furthermore, the disc 1 is assumed to be connected with such of the rollers of the jigger as in the given moment is the winding roller. As the amount of material on the said roller increases, the diameter of the roll of material increases too, and the speed and stress of the fabric web increases likewise. As a result, the forces exerting a downward pull in the roller 4 exceed the spring tension and consequently pull the roller downwards, in practice according to an arc of a circle, the shaft 5 turning about the bearing 6 as its center. The roller will then no longer contact the discs in the plane of the center line between the two discs and will therefore be carried to the left owing to the rotation of the discs which rotation is caused by the roller itself (Figure 2), the resultant if the forces to which it is subjected tending to this direction, that is, towards a larger radius of the disc 1 and a smaller radius of the disc 2. Hereby the ratio between the roller and the discs is altered, so that the roller is again brought to rest with the shaft 5 in the plane of the center line, for example, in the position 12 indicated by shaded lines in Figure 2. In practice the movement of the roller does not, of course, take place in the stages described, but the roller makes a cycloidal-like curve with very small deflections.

If, conversely, the stress in the material to be wound is less than corresponds to the tension of the spring 7, which, for example, may be the case when starting the jigger after the end of the fabric web having been manually fastened to the winding roller, the excessive spring tension will move the roller 4 upwards (Figure 3). Thereby the roller will be moved inwards towards a smaller radius of the disc 1 and outwards towards a larger radius of the disc 2, whereby the ratio of gearing is altered in such manner that the desired stress in the material handled is provided through the increased rotational speed of the disc 1.

By means of the design shown in Figure 4 the aforesaid movability of the roll in two directions at substantially right'angles to each other may be provided. One end of a shaft 21 rests in a bearing 22. The other end of the shaft is provided with a movable sleeve 23 in which there is a slot 24 enclosing a pin 25 at right angles to the shaft. When the shaft rotates the pin will cause the said sleeve to partake of its rotation, the sleeve simultaneously remaining displaceable in the direction of the shaft. The sleeve has an attached roller 26. The force to which the roller is subjected in a direction substantially at right angles to the shaft is provided by a spiral spring 27, one end of which is attached to a yoke 29 connected with the sleeve through ball bearings 28. The other end of the said spring is attached to a member 30 in the machine frame, the said member 30 being displaceable by means of a bolt 31 so that the tension of the spring can be regulated.

Various modifications of the driving mechanism are also possible within the scope of the invention. Thus, the shaft carrying the roller mounted between the discs may be movable as a whole at right angles to its longitudinal direction instead of being rotatable about a hearing, and the force acting on the roller in a direction at right angles to its axis may be produced otherwise than by means of a spring, e.g. by electromagnetic, pneumatic, or hydraulic means.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A driving mechanism for winding machines of the kind in which a band-shaped or thread-shaped material is wound on rotating members, the mechanism comprising a series of discs rotatable about their axes, at least one of said discs being connected with the member on which the material is wound, a roller positioned between each pair of discs in said series, the axis of the roller lying in a plane centered between and parallel to the discs, said roller being movable in the direction of its axis and being furthermore movable in a second direc tion substantially at right angles to a plane including the roller axis and perpendicular to the discs and being in the second direction subject to a force that decreases when the roller is moved with the force and increases when the roller is moved counter to the force.

2. A driving mechanism for a jigger having rotating members, the mechanism comprising two discs rotatable about their axes, one of said discs being connected with one of the, rotating members of the jiggenthe other disc being connected with the other rotating member of the jigger, a driven roller, said roller being positioned be tween the discs, the axis of the said roller lying in a-plane centered between and parallel to the discs, the roller being movable in the direction of its axis and furthermore in a second direction substantially at right angles to a plane including the roller axis and perpendicular to the discs, the roller being subjected to a force in the second direction that decreases when the roller is moved with the force and increases when the roller is moved counter to the force.

3. A driving mechanism for winding machines having a rotating member, the mechanism comprising a series of discs rotatable about their axes, at least one of said discs being connected with the member on which the material is wound, a roller positioned between each pair 4. A driving mechanism for a jigger having rotating members, the mechanism comprising two discs rotatable about their axes, one of said discs being connected with one of the rotating members of the jigger, the other disc being connected with the other rotating member of the jigger, a driven roller, said roller being positioned between the discs, the axis of said roller lying in a plane centered between and parallel to the discs, the roller being movable in the direction of its axis and furthermore in a second direction substantially at right angles to a plane including the roller axis and perpendicular to the discs, and a tension spring coupled to and subjecting the roller to a force in said second direction.

5. A driving mechanism as claimed in claim 3 in which the tension of the spring is adjustable.

6. A driving mechanism for winding machines of the kind in which a material is wound on rotating members, the mechanism comprising a series of discs rotatable about their axes, at least one of said discs being connected with the member on which the material is wound, a roller positioned between each pair of discs in said series, a shaft lying in a plane centered between and parallel to the discs and supporting the roller for axial displacement, and a bearing supporting said shaft, said roller in a direction substantially at right angles to the shaft being subjected to a force that decreases when the roller is moved with the force and increases when the roller is moved counter to the force.

7. A driving mechanism for a jigger having rotating members, the mechanism comprising two discs rotatable about their axes, one of said discs being connected with one of the members of the jigger, the other disc being connected with the other member of the jigger, a roller positioned between the discs, a driving shaft lying in a plane centered between and parallel to the discs and supporting said roller for axial displacement, and a bearing supporting said shaft, said roller in a direction substantially at right angles to the shaft being subjected to a force that decreases when the roller is moved with the force and increases when the roller is moved counter to the force.

87 A driving mechanism for winding machines of the kind in which a material is wound on rotating members, the mechanism comprising a series of discs rotatable about their axes, at least one of said discs being connected with the member on which the material is wound, a roller positioned between each pair of discs in the said series, a shaft lying in a plane centered between and parallel to the discs and supporting the roller for axial displacement, a bearing supporting said shaft, and a tension spring coupled to said roller, said roller in a direction substantially at right angles to the shaft and parallel to the discs being subjected to the force of said tension spring.

9. A driving mechanism for a jigger having rotating members, the mechanism comprising two discs rotatable about their axes, one of said discs being connected with one of the members of the jigger, the other disc being connected with the other member of thejigger, a roller positioned between the discs, a driving shaft lying in a plane centered between and parallel to the discs and supporting the roller for axial displacement, a bearing supporting said'shaft, and a tension spring coupled to said roller, said roller in a direction substantially at right angles to the shaft and parallel to the discs being subjected to the force of said tension spring.

10. A driving mechanism as claimed in claim 8 comprising a pin on said shaft and a sleeve axially movable on the shaft, said sleeve'supporting said roller and having a slot enclosing said pin.

11. A driving mechanism as claimed in claim 9 comprising a pin on said shaft anda sleeve axially movable on the shaft, said sleeve supporting said roller and having a slot enclosing said pin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED sTATEs PATENTS 

